Of course, psychological projection being what it is, the Republicans have successfully managed to project their own antipathy towards our military on President Obama — projection that makes no sense following the president’s pay raise for our troops and the deafening silence from the other side in return.

Raising the Pay Scale

A proposed increase, set to take place on January 1 of 2016, will raise the pay for all federal government employees, the military included. For civilian members, the pay increase is 1%, while members of the military will see a 1.3% increase.

This “across the board” pay raise for all federal workers was ordered by President Obama on August 28, likely in response to the general consensus that members of the military are underpaid. Military pay varies according to the rank of the individual, but the average soldier sees $39,688 per year, as well as additional funding for housing and food.

This increase is the most that the president can do without having to go to Congress, who, as they’ve shown in the past, are more than happy to throw the military under the bus — earlier in the year, Senate Democrats proposed a 3.8% increase for all federal workers, but the Republicans shot it down.

Obama’s increase also marks the largest increase since 2010.

And, tellingly, the Republicans have yet to comment. And while they may have fallen silent, with this particular issue, their silence speaks louder than any boilerplate bromides they might trot out.